Nigel Farage - MP for Clacton | Reform Watch
Profile and accountability tracker for Nigel Farage, MP for Clacton. null.
Role: MP for Clacton
Recorded incidents (showing 1-10 of 52)
Nigel Farage accused Question Time audience members of being 'plants'
Category: factual inaccuracy
Nigel Farage accused Question Time audience members of being 'plants' who pretended to support Reform UK to gain entry and then attack the party's panellist, and the party shared a Daily Mail quote repeating the allegation on social media. Reform used the claim to denounce the TV licence and said a Reform government would scrap it. The BBC's Question Time account and a BBC spokesperson denied the claim, saying every audience applicant is interviewed, must provide links to their social media and is subject to background checks. The BBC said there was no evidence of planted audience members and rejected the characterisation while acknowledging the limited risk someone may lie when applying.
Nigel Farage interviewed over failure to register a £5m gift
Category: financial conduct concern
Nigel Farage was interviewed by the parliamentary commissioner for standards about whether he breached parliamentary rules by failing to formally register a separate £5 million gift from Christopher Harborne. The 30-minute inquiry focused on whether the gift should have been declared to the parliamentary register. The probe sits amid wider scrutiny of £72 million of donations to Reform UK from two cryptocurrency billionaires and related media and police attention. Mr Farage denies any wrongdoing, saying the £5 million was used only for his personal security and that the donations are compliant; the commissioner could rule against him, potentially leading to a suspension from the House of Commons and a by-election.
Nigel Farage linked asylum arrivals to terrorism and demanded Shabana Mahmood resign
Category: xenophobia
Nigel Farage linked asylum arrivals to terrorism in a television interview. He said "we are inviting terror and horror into our communities" and "we are importing terrorists into our country from across the English Channel", and he demanded Shabana Mahmood resign. The remarks followed the charging of two men who arrived by small boat in connection with an alleged terror plot, tying a criminal case to wider asylum flows. The statements made sweeping claims about asylum seekers as a group, risking stigmatisation of people seeking protection and prompting public attention.
Nigel Farage said there is 'a massive overdiagnosis of ADHD' and called solar farms 'a complete abomination'
Category: discriminatory remark
Nigel Farage described solar farms as "a complete abomination" and "ghastly" on good agricultural land, criticised net zero policies as having "really hurt places like Doncaster", attacked welfare policy and said "there is a massive overdiagnosis of ADHD", arguing many young people were being labelled victims and put "on a scrap heap". He also criticised proposed developments such as the Whitestone Solar Farm and warned about the impact of other local policy choices on town centres. The comments risked stigmatizing disabled and neurodivergent people, a point of concern given his claim about ADHD; Farage said he was not advocating removing "proper safety nets" for those who are "genuinely disabled". Richard Tice, who visited the Whitestone site that morning, called the proposals "absolutely catastrophic" and Mr Farage and the party reiterated opposition to poorly governed or wasteful deals regarding local projects.
Nigel Farage used as example in police Islamophobia training
Category: inflammatory language
Nigel Farage was used as an example in a Project Unity Islamophobia training session delivered to officers at the York and North Yorkshire Hate Crime Conference. Attendees were shown an interview featuring Mr Farage and asked to consider the relationship between his public commentary and a racially aggravated offence shown in footage, with the session inviting participants to draw conclusions about the harm of such commentary. The session was delivered by Abbas Najib, chief executive of Better Communities Bradford, as part of Project Unity, a programme that has received public funding including a grant to roll out the training. Mr Najib defended the training as aimed at reducing anti-Muslim hostility and said participants examine how public language lands; police sources said the talk formed part of a conference schedule rather than official force training and that the speaker was not employed by the force, and the material also referenced other political figures and commentary used in public debate.
Nigel Farage shared Reform UK video using 'colonised by immigrants' clip
Category: xenophobia
Nigel Farage posted a Reform UK promotional video that included a clip of businessman Jim Ratcliffe saying the UK had been "colonised by immigrants". The clip was incorporated into Reform UK's online promotion. Jim Ratcliffe later said he was sorry for the language and the original clip had drawn wide criticism. Reusing the phrase in a party video extended the reach of the remark and drew further criticism for amplifying anti-immigrant language; there was no immediate public party statement about the post.
Nigel Farage claims new anti-disinformation unit will clamp down on free speech
Category: social media conduct
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, posted on social media that the government’s National Centre for Information Defence would be used to clamp down on free speech, comparing it to George Orwell’s Ministry of Information and saying it was being set up using the excuse that Russia wants to interfere with elections. He made the comments in a public video message and an accompanying social post. The government has said the unit will not be used to police domestic political dissent and the Commons foreign affairs committee gave cross-party backing to the initiative. Farage provided no evidence for his claim.
Nigel Farage did not record Dubai GB News appearance on register of interests
Category: undisclosed interest
Nigel Farage attended a GB News event in Dubai and did not record the appearance on his official register of interests, FairSquare said. The event included senior Emirati officials and Farage promoted UAE-style development as a model for parts of the UK. The omission is reported alongside broader scrutiny of Reform UK’s links with the UAE, with other senior party figures named as having personal or business ties to the country. There is no evidence presented of direct UAE funding to the party, but the connections have prompted calls for greater transparency and further official scrutiny of foreign influence risks.
Nigel Farage announces new Wales leader and defends suspended Senedd member
Category: other
Nigel Farage held a press conference in Cardiff Bay to announce Helen Jenner as Reform UK's new leader in the Senedd and to address recent departures and the resignation of the previous leader. He stated that Dan Thomas would remain a member of the Reform group despite being suspended, and he criticised Sarah Cooper-Lesadd's decision to defect to Plaid Cymru, questioning whether her politics had been evident during vetting. Dan Thomas had been arrested on suspicion of assault and coercive control; police said the investigation is ongoing and Thomas remains a Reform UK Senedd member. Helen Jenner won a secret ballot among group members, defeating Jason O'Connell, and Farage said he would not change the party's vetting procedures while announcing a deputy leadership contest and a forthcoming reshuffle.
Nigel Farage says he will 'hijack' Tom Homan to secure UK borders
Category: inflammatory language
Nigel Farage said at a US event that he wanted to "hijack" Tom Homan and bring him to Britain to help secure the country's borders. He made the remark while Homan, a senior US immigration official, was a guest at the event and praised Homan's approach to immigration enforcement. Tom Homan is described as Trump's border czar and a former acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. There is no indication Homan has agreed to take a role in Britain, and the party did not respond to requests for comment on whether it would seek to adopt elements of Homan's approach; the comment aligns with Reform UK's public support for tougher immigration enforcement.